A few general laptop travel tips

Traveling with kids can be a nightmare. I usually cuff them and put them in the trunk or strap them to the top of the car, which is why most of my friends with children no longer invite me to come along on trips with them. However, a laptop, notebook, or tablet is a great way to keep the kids out of your hair on a long road trip. I never let kids touch Charlie since we both have an aversion to boogers on the keyboard, but many people are fine with letting kids use the computer and the car or on a train or plane is certainly a great place to do that. They might even fix all your technical issues if you ask them nicely.

I don’t recommend you do this while driving but you can have the passenger do it. Whether you have a smart phone or a laptop, what you can do is look online to find out where the cheapest fuel prices are. Not only that you can scout ahead for hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants, and even movie theaters. If you are traveling by car, you can make the navigator learn everything about where you are going with the laptop battery, just don’t get caught up watching viral videos or you might end up being one. Google maps has become far more sophisticated and you can see photos, read reviews, get directions, and toss that annoying GPS with the fake British accent out the window.

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It’s also a good idea to have some sort of permanent mark on your notebook or laptop that identifies it. With charlie, my right thumb has worn a groove in the space bar (seriously) and I also have a cigarette burn on the touchpad, but not on purpose, just one of those things that happen during late night chat. Still, it’s an identifying mark and I recommend you create one that goes beyond being a sticker or a marker. Use a cattle brand if you have one. Of course you could also superglue a business card to the bottom of it.

Finally, and this might be the most important tip to help you enjoy your travels with the laptop so pay attention. Shut it down. Turn it off. Get outside. You are in Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Vienna, Beijing, Calcutta, Timbuktu, Chicago, Buenos Aires, or someplace else you have always dreamed of seeing. Why in the world are you wasting time looking at status updates from people you never really liked in high school anyway? Leave the laptop in your room, in a safe, or take it with you but for the sake of all travel things wonderful, shut it down. Look out the window, smell the breeze, feel the movement of the wind in your hair. Travel with your laptop, but good god, make sure you still travel.

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